Powerful Writing Tips

Free resource materials to help you communicate more effectively are now available on my website:

Plain Language Tips – for business writing that is easy to read and easy to understand

Dynamic Tables and Graphs – to help you communicate with numbers

Effective PowerPoint Presentations – to visually enhance your public speaking

Resumes – a series of articles to help you prepare a killer resume

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A Vegetarian Rant

I walked out of a foodie gathering last evening with laughter ringing in my ears. Oh, I’m sure it was intended to be friendly laughter, but all the same, they were mocking me. Vegetarians are not taken seriously in the food community. We are odd, delusional folks who fail to appreciate that meat is the centre of any classy meal. Well, I beg to disagree. Good vegetarian food is creative, flavourful and forward-thinking. Creative I was a terrible cook until I became a vegetarian. The traditional “meat and two vegetables” led to boring meals with no flavour. As a vegetarian, that standard scenario was turned on its head. Every meal was different – would it be a soup or a stew, savoury pancakes or spring rolls? Meal planning was suddenly way more fun. Trips to the farmers’ market became an adventure. What could I make with fennel? Why not try arugula on my pizza? Cookbooks were culinary travel adventures and my spice rack expanded to include flavours from around the world. There w...
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Brit Foods: Saskatoon’s Very Own British Food Store

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My parents were British, and I have spent many happy months in England visiting family friends and relatives. I used to enjoy shopping at the Canadian outlets of Marks & Spencer and was very sorry when they closed, so I was delighted to learn that Saskatoon now has its very own British food store. Brit Foods is located in Cumberland Square, in the covered alleyway just down from Safeway. It’s a treasure trove of British food. The owner, Tony Badger, says they try to stock the national brands, so you’ll find soups by Marks & Spencer and Baxter’s, Yorkshire and Typhoo tea, Heinz beans, Rose’s preserves, Thornton’s chocolates, and Walker’s chips. In addition to the food products (primarily packaged although there are pork pies and a few other items in the freezer), there is an entire wall devoted to loose candies. You can also pick up a linen tea towel or an English magazine. There is a second Brit Foods in Parksville on Vancouver Island, but Mr. Badger says that the demog...
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What is Slow Food?

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“Slow Food envisions a world in which all people can enjoy food that is good for them, good for those who grow it and good for the planet.”  The Opposite of Fast Food  When I left for the Slow Food Canada national meeting in Edmonton, I had a vague idea of what slow food was. It was the opposite of fast food – food gulped down rapidly at a drive-through burger joint – food eaten to stop the hunger pangs without giving any thought to what it tasted like or how it was made. But that was a rather negative definition of slow food, and I was wrestling with the idea that promoting slow food made me into a food snob who turned up her nose at people who bought supermarket strawberries or used cake mixes. Good, Clean, Fair Slow Food began to make more sense to me as I listened to the Slow Food leaders from across Canada talk about their work to promote Slow Food. Paolo Di Croce, Secretary General for Slow Food International , emphasized that Slow Food is a political movemen...
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The Golden Towns of Beaujolais

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Heading north out of Lyon, you pass through a long tunnel and exit into a lush green countryside leaving the city far behind. You then turn and head up the hill onto winding roads between a patchwork of vineyards. Many of the vines are really old with short, thick, twisted trunks and a thin stem of green leaves and buds. These are the Gamay vines of Beaujolais, interspersed with a few fields of greener, leafier Chardonnay vines. South Beaujolais, just 45 minutes northwest of Lyon, encompasses 25 medieval villages of orangey-gold stone (limestone and iron) that is surprisingly vibrant (I had been expecting something lighter, similar to the Cotswolds in England). Some of the villages still have the remains of 14th century castles. Oingt is classed as one of the most beautiful villages of France and it really is lovely. You can take a walk around the town on the former ramparts and the church is austere and beautiful. I was on a half-day tour , which combined stopping to...
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Flavourful Saskatoon, February 17, 2011

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Foodie news and events in and around Saskatoon  There are so many interesting foodie events around Saskatoon, so I’m going to try and compile them and share them with you on a weekly basis. I’m planning to post Flavourful Saskatoon news on Mondays, but there are a couple of exciting upcoming events that I didn’t want you to miss so I’m posting early this week. Please email me to share foodie news and events. I’ll be happy to pass along the information. Collective Coffee A new coffee shop is opening at 220 20th Street West on Saturday, February 19 at 10 am . The owner is Jackson Wiebe, and the coffee shop is part of The Two Twenty, a community of social entrepreneurs and artists and has been designed and built by Curtis Olson. I’ll share more information in a future blog post. For now, Jackson and Curtis just want you to know that “It’s good in the ‘Hood.” So be sure to drop by and say hi to the folks at Collective Coffee. Slide show – culinary tour of South V...
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